It is well known to apply electrical contact materials to carriers. Difficulty arises, however, in associating the material which forms the contact with the carrier itself. Heat-based bonding methods, such as soldering, brazing, or welding, are frequently difficult to apply, and the adhesion of the electrical contact to the carrier material itself often is not as permanent and as intimate as desired.
Various types of contact and bonding materials, which are eminently suitable for the contact introduce the aforementioned difficulties. One such contact material is described in British Pat. 1,111,478 (to which U.S. Pat. No. 3,016,350, Spooner, corresponds), intended for welding to a base carrier. During the welding process, however, it is possible to damage the surface of the contact material or, if the welding is carried out at lower temperature, the adhesion and reliability of the bonding contact is impaired. The difficulties are particularly glaring if the materials of the contact have high thermal conductivity, such as silver, copper, or alloys thereof. The electrical conductivity of these materials likewise interferes with proper bonding. Other materials which have been used cannot be, practically, welded at all by resistance welding methods, such as, for example, contact materials made of silver and metal oxide composites.